Tenor Mark Padmore is a frequent SF Performances artist, and with good reason. He crafts deeply emotional and provocative programs, delivering them with thrilling technical command and a magnetic presence. For his SF Performances return, Padmore brings together some of the top baroque interpreters of our time.
Mark Padmore was born in London. He studied at the Kent Junior Music School and played clarinet in the Kent Youth Orchestra. He was awarded a choral scholarship to King's College, Cambridge and graduated with an honours degree in music in 1982.
He has established an international career in opera, concert and recital. His appearances in Bach Passions have gained particular notice especially his acclaimed performances as Evangelist in the St Matthew and St John Passions with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle, staged by Peter Sellars.
In opera, Mark has worked with directors Peter Brook, Katie Mitchell, Mark Morris and Deborah Warner. Recent work includes the leading roles in Harrison Birtwistle's The Corridor and The Cure at the Aldeburgh Festival and Linbury Theatre, Covent Garden; Captain Vere in Britten's Billy Budd and Evangelist in a staging of St Matthew Passion for Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Third Angel/John in George Benjamin's Written on Skin with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. Future projects include new works written for him by Tansy Davies and Thomas Larcher.
In concert, Mark performs with the world's leading orchestras. in the 2016-17 season he was Artist in Residence with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and will hold a similar position with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2017-18 Season. His work with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has involved projects exploring both Bach St John and St Matthew Passions. He also collaborates regularly with The Britten Sinfonia.